I taught my middle son to knit and my youngest son to crochet. In the photo, Jack was working on his Harry Potter scarf and I was working on a Fair Isle sweater, when Dan ran and grabbed his crochet to join us at the kitchen table.

Jack traveled with his knitting. The other photo he’s at the zoo and working on socks w three red wedges of the Sweet Tomato Heel Method. He stopped working on the socks after completing the heel. That was 2 years ago so I decided to finish the socks for him. I’m knitting the legs and our gauges are a little different. His youngest brother wants to inherit these socks when they’re done!
No pattern was used so I’ve measured and counted stitches to making the following notes.

Toe 2” in length
JMCO 8 sts (4/side)
Increase each rnd 5 times, then alt rnd 5 times
Total sock sts 48.

Foot 6.5” from last Toe increase
Knit foot for 50 rnds in 3x1 rib on instep.

Heel* 2.5” wedge radius
Make 3 wedges 8 row max, w 2 rows Main Color in between

Leg 5.5” from last Heel wedge to start of cuff
45 rounds in 3 x 1 rib

Cuff
Change to Contrast Color, knit 1 round in stockinette.
Knit 6 more rounds in 3 x 1 rib
Set up for Tubular Bindoff Knit 1 round in 1 x 1
Round 1: (k1, slip wyif), repeat to end
Round 2: (slip wfib, purl1) repeat to end.
Kitchener after just the 2 rounds.

Links:

Used worsted wool on size 4needles for increases density of fabric. Gauge 5.8 spi

If using DK yarn: try US 3, 6-6.5 spi
https://www.masondixonknitting.com/a-dk-weight-sock-recipe/

For 7 y.o. used total 40 st. 6. 75” sock circ
For 11 y.o. used total 48 st. 8” sock circ
For mid-teen and adult men’s used total 56-60 st. for sock circ of 9.5” and gauge 5.8 spi.

Sock Size Chart
https://www.craftyarncouncil.com/standards/foot-size-charts

Cat Bordhi’s Sweet Tomato Heel
Sweet Tomato Heels has regular and padded versions
Sweet Tomato Heel regular
https://youtu.be/EWpRABD7UWw

Padded version of Sweet Tomato Heel:
https://youtu.be/lgBUadTQR8k
http://knitbettersocks.blogspot.com/2013/07/sweet-tomato-...

Measure three circumferences approximately where the three wedges would be.
Line A represents the circumference measurement around the foot from the highest part of the instep to the bottom of the foot (I drew the line a little less than perpendicular, aiming it back towards the heel just a bit, closer to where the STH would be started). I measured this in inches (be fairly specific, using quarter or half inches for this) and multiplied it by my SPI (sts per inch, which for me was 8) and then multiplied that by .85 (which subtracts 15% to allow for stretch). This gave me approximately 80 sts. Since I started with 66 sts after the toe I knew I needed to add 14 sts on the sole before reaching the highest part of the instep. I increased sts in small groups, each group of increases done in one row. So I increased three sts across one row on the bottom of the foot, knit about an inch, increased another three st across one row, knit an inch, then did four more in one row, knit an inch and the final four and then knit an inch. This brought me to the highest part of the instep with a st count of 80.

Line B represents the circumference of the foot around the highest part of the instep (“hinge”) and the deepest part of the heel. I measured this in inches, multiplied by 8 (my SPI count), and then multiplied by .85 to allow for stretch. This let me know that I wanted a final st count of 94 for the heel. This meant that I needed to increase 14 more sts before starting the heel to make for a heel that would be roomy enough and not end up tight across the instep. Since I was already at the top of the instep, this means I needed to add these 14 stitches in almost immediately, all at once. I followed the lead of some fellow knitters and simply increased those 14 st in the last row before starting the heel. I spaced them as evenly as possible along the sole/bottom (I think that I ended up increasing every 3 or 4 sts in my case). Then I proceeded to knit the STH as per the eBook. I did the padded version and ended up with 2 and a quarter wedges.

Line C represents the narrowest circumference around the leg above the heel (actually, this line should probably have been placed a little higher, but you get the general idea?). I followed the calculations above and ended up with a desired st count of 68. As soon as I did my final “thanks-ma” round, I immediately decreased the 14 sts I had added in to do the heel. I of course did these decreases on just the back of the sock above the heel section. Then I knit a plain round.

At this point I still had 12 sts to decrease before heading up the leg. You could do the rest of your decreases in any way you like, but I did the following: I decreased another 6 evenly spaced sts above the heel in the next row to pull things in a bit and help avoid any “pooching” in that area. I did the last 6 decreases 2 at a time on each side of the heel, every other row. This gives a bit of a gusset type look that carries up the leg above the ankle for a few rows.

Cat Bordhi was my first knitting mentor. I had always hoped to accompany her on the retreats to Peru and Iceland. Four years ago, I asked about incorporating knitting into middle school curriculum with history, science and math and she emailed me herself during her 2 year battle with illness enthusiastic to pass on the heritage and community of knitting.